The electrical connector shown in FIG. 9 as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2,649,988 is a card edge electrical connector 100 which is attached to a mother board, and to which a daughter board is connected in a latchable manner.
Card edge connector 100 is equipped with an insulating housing 110, which has a daughter board-accommodating recess 111 extending in the direction of length thereof and latch-accommodating recesses 112 (only one being shown) located in both ends of the daughter board-accommodating recess 111 and which is attached to a mother board 130, a plurality of electrical contacts (not shown) are disposed in row form along the direction of length of the housing 110, and a pair of metal latch members 120 are accommodated in the latch-accommodating recesses 112 of the housing 110, and they are fastened to the housing 110. Furthermore, each of the electrical contacts is electrically connected by soldering to the mother board 130, and the metal latch members 120 are also attached to the mother board 130.
Furthermore, the daughter board 140 is accommodated at a first angle inside the daughter board-accommodating recess 111 of the housing 110, and it is then rotated in the direction indicated by arrow R in FIG. 9 so that the daughter board 140 electrically engages the electrical contacts at a second angle; the second angle is maintained by the latch members 120. As a result, the daughter board 140 is electrically connected to the mother board 130 via the electrical contacts of the card edge connector 100. Moreover, when the daughter board 140 is held by the latch members 120, the daughter board 140 enters the daughter board-accommodating openings 121 of the latch members 120, and it is held in a specified position by the latch projections 122 of the latch members 120 and stop members 113 of the housing 110.
Grounding of the daughter board 140 to the mother board 130 is accomplished by electrically connecting ground path 141 on the daughter board 140 with a ground path (not shown) on the mother board 130 via the latch members 120, i.e., by causing the ground path 141 on the daughter board 140 to electrically engage the latch members 120.
However, in conventional card edge connector 100, the width of the portions of the latch members 120 electrically engaging the ground path 141 on the daughter board 140, i.e., the width of the daughter board-accommodating openings 121 of the latch members 120, is slightly larger than the thickness of the daughter board 140. As a result, in cases where a force oriented in the direction indicated by arrow R acts on the daughter board 140 as a result of some external cause, there is a danger that the ground path 141 on the daughter board 140 will be separated from the latch members 120, so that grounding of the daughter board 140 to the mother board 130 cannot be accomplished. On the other hand, if the width of the daughter board-accommodating openings 121 in the latch members 120 is made the same as the thickness of the daughter board 140 in order to prevent rotation of the daughter board 140 inside the daughter board-accommodating openings 121, there is a danger that the daughter board 140 will be unable to enter the daughter board-accommodating openings 121 as a result of dimensional error.